National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 2011

Proclamation 8724 of October 3, 2011

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 2011

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

This month, pink ribbons will be displayed around our
country, adorning jackets and public spaces alike. A
sign of solidarity, these ribbons remind us of our
commitment to preventing and treating breast cancer,
and to supporting those courageously battling this
disease. Countless Americans will participate in events
to raise awareness alongside survivors and their
families, working together to support research that
will save lives.

We have come far in recent decades in the prevention,
early detection, and treatment of breast cancer. Still,
this year, hundreds of thousands of women will be
diagnosed with breast cancer, and too many will be
lost. African-American women bear a particularly large
burden, experiencing higher death rates from breast
cancer than other racial or ethnic groups in the United
States. Too many men also develop and fall victim to
this cancer.

It is important to understand the risks and precautions
associated with breast cancer. Some risk factors, like
obesity, are avoidable. Other factors, like family
history, are not avoidable, but knowledge of them can
help inform medical decisions. Taking protective steps
like getting regular check-ups, maintaining a healthy
body weight and balanced diet, and exercising may help
lower the chances of developing breast cancer. I
encourage all Americans to talk to their doctors about
breast cancer, and to visit www.Cancer.gov to learn
more about symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

Screening and early detection are essential to fighting
this disease, yet only about two-thirds of American
women over 40 have had a mammogram in the last 2 years.
But now, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, all
Americans joining new health-care plans can receive
recommended preventive services, including annual
mammograms for women over 40, with no out-of-pocket
costs. This new benefit would also ensure that women in
new insurance plans who are at high risk for breast
cancer are covered when they speak with their
clinicians about ways to prevent or delay the
development of cancer. The Affordable Care Act also
established a committee tasked with advancing awareness
and prevention of breast cancer among young women.

This month, we join together in honoring the women and
men lost to breast cancer. In their memory, we recommit
to supporting the hard-working researchers, health-care
providers, advocates, and organizations dedicated to
treating and curing this devastating disease. We
embrace our mothers, daughters, sisters, and loved ones
currently battling breast cancer, along with their
friends and families, and we resolve to one day defeat
it.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim October 2011 as
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I encourage
citizens, government agencies, private businesses,
nonprofit organizations, and all other interested
groups to join in activities that will increase
awareness of what Americans can do to prevent and
control breast cancer.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
third day of October, in the year of our Lord two
thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.